Eliteist Breed - Page 1

Among the many visions for the GSD promoted by a member of the dysfunctional GSD family, one really caught my eye. This person claims the GSD is an eliteist breed and should be kept out of the hands of the average knucklehead who happens to live in suburbia. What next people? It is not enough to be judging the dog, but this person and others of the same ilk, think people are in need of judging, too. I'm sure their glass houses are just sparlkling clean. Oh yeah, and the big picture seers? Skinheads only need apply, might not be too far off. At the end of the day, after rolling in deer poop, all dogs need a bath and their owners could use one, too. Phooey!

I always was told to never judge a book by its cover. Isn't the GSD a worker anyway?

It would seem the breed standard is open to individual interpretation. One may pick a source that suits a certain pupose, or one they feel comfortable with, because they are not all the same. Personally, I have faith that the GSD is a multi-dimensional talented, wonderful breed for any person who can responsibly fullfills its' needs. They can live in a cave for all I care. (I also think I'm capable of determining this requirement myself.) Thank god for the USA. The other idea here, is this particular "vision" also seemed to think they define what "work" that is, and this advocates for the extremes that affect the temperment and character of the breed itself. In other words: mean spirited dogs desired by thugs that end up dumped on the unsuspected suburbanite shelter, the same one they despise— hence the real, "big picture." A touch or irony, too.

I am sorry, but I just had to correct the spelling of elitist. Maybe I am one...

If we do our work properly we produce elite dogs in the sense that we do not engage in "farming" pups, but select very carefully desireable breeding stock and reject those that do not measure up. Likewise we reject loose cannon "knucklehead" buyers who might endanger our pups or keep them from reaching their potential. I do not support arrogance, but we must maintain a high standard or we reduce our breed to the level of the many farmed pets of AKC. Best Wishes, Jonah

MVF, I didn't think it looked quite right, but was too lazy to spellcheck! lol I am generally a pretty, easy going gal myself, a tad above common on occassion, and pretty darn exceptional in other areas. jdh: "...do our work properly..." ahhhh! There in lies the rub, eh? Who's watching you! ;-) ~Deb

Elitist? I don't know, maybe. I would have to say that it would not be a good idea to place a high drive working line male in a typical suburban household with 3-4 rugrats. That would be a disaster. One time a college girl, 18-19 y/o maybe 90 lbs. showed up at our ScH training group with a gorgeous Chech male, obviously well trained personal protection dog that her daddy had bought for her. This dog had crazy drive and only knew commands in Slovak, which of course the girl did not know a word of. She only came to training once, I always wondered if the dog ate her? (Just kidding)

Sorry mis-spelled Czech

It's far too general to say that the GSD as a breed is elitist because there is so much disparity in the quality of GSD's being bred that you can find anything from top working dog to backyard breeding crap. IMO, a pet GSD is fine for a good home, no elitism required. However, a good quality working GSD is quite possibly a terrible fit for the Average Joe on the market for a "nice dog for the kids". At my SchH club we have obedience training nights for people who have no interest in SchH and just want to get their dogs to behave. I don't know how many dogs over the years have been brought in, bounding off the walls, barking their heads off because some uninformed buyer paid a big bucks for a pup out of titled working dogs, thinking they were going to get "quality". Now they can no longer control the dog and he's going bonkers chained up in the backyard with no outlet for his drive and energy. Just this month, a pair of "unhappy customers" are dumping off a young male GSD that was bought "for the grandkids". At 5 months the dog is already out of control and has the couple scared. We've tested him and we SchH people like what we see. Once he learns his manners he'll probably to make a fine SchH dog. Bottom line, I wish the GSD actually *was* more of an elitist dog - or should I say, that high drive GSD's from a solid working pedigree are better off with experienced owners. People often come up to me in the park admiring my young black sable male, and ask if he's a "good boy" and a "nice pet". Ha! I tell them he's a total heathen and he would be a catastrophe in a pet home, with his high drive and high energy. He needs to be worked, and worked hard to burn off his energy and teach him discipline. And he's not even half as drivey as some of the ball crazy dogs I've seen on the field. Caveat emptor! Yvette